Commercial hydrogen trucks to be tested for the first time in Canada

The first-of-its-kind project in the country will take place in the province of Alberta. A new project is launching in Canada, which will provide transportation companies in the province of Alberta the opportunity to test commercial hydrogen trucks for the first time. The project is particularly notable, as the Canadian province is the heart of the country’s oil industry. Transport companies based in Alberta are being provided with the opportunity to test commercial hydrogen trucks as a component of Canada’s H2-based efforts to reduce carbon emissions. That said, what is not yet known is if t…

The first-of-its-kind project in the country will take place in the province of Alberta.

A new project is launching in Canada, which will provide transportation companies in the province of Alberta the opportunity to test commercial hydrogen trucks for the first time.

The project is particularly notable, as the Canadian province is the heart of the country’s oil industry.

Transport companies based in Alberta are being provided with the opportunity to test commercial hydrogen trucks as a component of Canada’s H2-based efforts to reduce carbon emissions. That said, what is not yet known is if the companies will actually buy them, when the province is often known as “oil country”. The Class 8 vehicles are powered by alternative, energy efficient H2. The Hydrogen Commercial Vehicle Demonstration program was hosted by the Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) and took place at the Edmonton International Airport. “We’re celebrating the deployment of next-level technology, putting hydrogen-powered trucks in the hands of our carrier members to truly be able to demonstrate and explore this new alternative energy in the real world,” said AMTA board of directors member Jude Groves.

Drivers were able to test the commercial hydrogen trucks to envision how they would function in a real fleet.

According to the AMTA, this initiative was a first of its kind in Canada. It provided drivers and transport companies to have a firsthand experience with the technology and the vehicles, to see how it could become a part of their fleets.[aweber listid="6179904" formid="497551345" formtype="webform"] “These trials will look at the performance of hydrogen-fueled vehicles on Alberta roads, payloads, and weather conditions and will address challenges around fuel cell reliability, infrastructure, and vehicle cost and maintenance,” read a statement from the AMTA on its official website. “It actually de-risks a lot of the fleet owners who are bringing in this technology,” explained Cole Fouillard, whose own truck has already been retrofitted to use multi-port hydrogen injection systems. “There are no modifications to the engine.” The project provided transport industry members with the opportunity to ask specific questions about commercial hydrogen trucks, including regarding any risks, potential damage to existing engines, and others. “Hydrogen energy has a significant amount of data, hundreds of thousands of kilometres worth of data… the engine runs a bit cleaner, (there’s) a lot less down time on the engines, which is really important for any fleet owners,” said Fouillard.